


Once Upon a Party

by okemmelie



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: F/M, its a dumb cinderella retelling, sam is an asshole in this and ugh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:26:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22069240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okemmelie/pseuds/okemmelie
Summary: Charlotte's husband, Sam, doesn't let her go to parties, but one day she sneaks out anyway.
Relationships: Charlotte/Sam (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Charlotte/Ted (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 19





	Once Upon a Party

**Author's Note:**

> this is for the starkid writes discord server's weekly prompt, fairytales. is it dumb? yes. but so am i. happy 2020!

Once upon a time in the far off time of 2009, there was a young girl who met a young boy and fell in love. Her name was Charlotte and his name was Sam, and he was the most charming and sweet man Charlotte had ever laid her eyes on.

Yes, once once upon a time, Charlotte was a girl. And once upon a time, she was in love.

Now, rather than that, she was a woman. A married woman, in fact. She had a house in the shape of an apartment and she had a busy, stressful life in the shape of a husband. It wasn’t that she had outside commitments. In fact, the only time she had time to leave the house was when she went shopping for her apartment and for her Sam.

She kept it nice and clean, she cooked the meals and laid the bed, she poured her soul into making it feel like a home, because that was what Sam wanted. Sam had once been nice and kind and everything she had wanted, but his kindness had died and what was left was cold. Cold and devoid of love, much like the rest of their marriage.

But it was fine, she thought as she loaded groceries in the back of their car. She could make things alright, she could fix what was broken, she could make Sam happy, she told herself as she attempted to carry all this week’s shopping up the stairs in one go.

“Hey Charlotte.” The voice came from behind her. “You need help with those?” It was the girl who lived across from them in the hallway. What was her name again? Nora?

She was about to say  _ no, it’s fine, I can carry them myself, but thank you so much _ , but then one of the bags slipped from her grasp and hit the stairs. Both of them watched as it tumbled down, but the other woman made an effort in trying to catch it. “Oh, thank you so much. I’m just so clumsy, I’m sorry.”

The woman smiled. “Hey, it’s no problem. Let’s get these up to your apartment, yeah?”

And so, the woman grabbed another bag from Charlotte and started to make her way to their floor. When they got there, Charlotte made sure to take a look at the name in front of her door and sure enough, Nora it was. She wasn’t nearly close enough with anyone in the apartment building to remember their name. But Nora... she’d remember Nora.

She thanked her and Nora said, it was really no problem, and then they went in to their separate apartment and lived their separate lives.

Turns out that the bag she had dropped was the one with the eggs in it. Unfortunate really, as many of them had broken. Then when Sam came home, she told him and he yelled and it was as it usually is, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t upset.

At least she had Frumpkin and Professor Thaddeus, her two beloved cats, to keep her company and rub against her leg and make her life all that better.

It was a rough week for Charlotte and Sam. She didn’t know what went wrong, but so many things did and it often resulted in Sam yelling at her. She didn’t like that, but it was what happened. She’d do her best to continue striving to do better.

Then the next week when she was on her way up the stairs with their groceries, this time taking them in two rounds rather than once, Nora was there again. She was on her way out of her apartment when Charlotte came up with the first bags and she smiled. “Oh, Charlotte! I had something I needed to ask you, actually!”

“Oh?” Charlotte smiled as she attempted to unlock the door, bags still in hand.

“Yeah! I’m going to a party this Friday and I was wondering if you’d like to come with?”

A party? It’d been a while since she’d gone to one of those. “Thank you so much for the invitation, but I don’t know. I’ll have to ask my husband before I can say for sure.”

“No worries. Just come knocking when you know.”

Charlotte thanked Nora once again and then went to get the rest of their groceries. She’d ask Sam when he came home and he’d say no and she’d go tell Nora, but she couldn’t help it but feel hopeful that maybe this time would be different.

It wasn’t.

Maybe that was for the best, she thought. She didn’t have any pretty party dresses, she hadn’t had alcohol in a while and she was a married woman. She should just stay in her apartment. Still, she told Frumpkin and Professor Thaddeus about the party and about how much she wanted to go and they listened.

Perhaps they weren’t the only ones who did. Perhaps the universe did too, because Sam informed her on Friday morning that he’d be going to Clyvesdale with some friends. He’d be home late Friday night, which meant Saturday morning in the early AMs.

What it also meant was that while she  _ shouldn’t _ , she could technically go to the party Nora had invited her to. She speed cleaned the apartment and then went to knock on her neighbor’s door.

Nora opened it a few moments later. “Charlotte! Nice to see you. What’s going on?”

Then Charlotte told her what was going on and Nora let her into the apartment. She let Charlotte borrow one of her dresses. They were the same size and it looked beautiful on her and Charlotte hadn’t felt better about herself for a long, long time. Together, the neighbors left for the party and Charlotte readied herself for whatever this party was bringing.

There was music and dancing and people all around. There were tables with alcohol and trays with drinks and people drinking. Charlotte hadn’t seen anything like it in a very long time. But Nora? Nora seemed to fit right in and she ran off to reconnect with some old friends, it seemed.

So there she was. Thirty, in a pretty dress and alone at a party. She’d no idea how one was supposed to ask, what one was supposed to do, so she just stood there. Maybe she shouldn’t have come. Maybe she should just go home. Maybe–

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around. A tall man with a mustache and a drink in his hand was standing behind – well, now in front of – her and he has a smile on his face. It’s a friendly smile. Charming even. It’s the kind of smile Charlotte hasn’t seen on a man in a long while.

“I don’t believe I know you,” He said. “You come here often?”

She shook her head. “No. No, this is my first time here.”

He nodded. “Well, there’s a first time for everything. My name’s Ted. Can I get you a drink?”

“Nice to meet you Ted.” She took a moment to think about his question. Sam wouldn’t like it if she drank so she probably shouldn’t. “Yes please.”

“Just one moment, then.” He smiled again and she smiled back, then he left.

This was a bad idea, she thought. This whole thing was a bad idea. Then she saw Nora smiling to her from across the room and  _ then  _ a stranger, a tiny woman in a purple dress, came up to her and told her she looked beautiful, and it made Charlotte blush but it also made her want to stay.

The woman had barely left when the man, Ted, returned with a drink. He handed it to her and she thanked him. “So. You know my name. Can I know yours?”

She thought about it for a while. Saying her name felt dangerous. She couldn’t quite put her finger on why. Maybe it was just because that would make it more real. So she shook her head. “No. But you can call me Cinderella.”

His eyes narrowed and he took a few seconds to process. Then he nodded. “Alright then. Care to join me on the dance floor after this drink, Cinderella?”

She nodded. If she wasn’t Charlotte, she could do what she wanted. And she wanted to dance with Ted.

But first, they drank. It was a rather sweet drink and she couldn’t put her finger on what exactly it was, didn’t drink nearly enough to make an educated guess, but it was good. She liked it. She liked him too. He asked questions but not too many and he was nice, charming,  _ warm _ .

He asked who she’d come here with and he’d told her she lived in the same building as Nora. He’d asked her about the ring on her finger and she put it into her wallet, which she put into the pocket of her jacket which she hung up right before he lead her to the dancefloor.

They danced and it was nice. Ted wasn’t a good dancer, per say, but he was good company and Charlotte didn’t find herself growing tired of dancing. It was times like these she missed Sam. The old Sam, the Sam she loved. Not the Sam she feared, not the Sam who made her cry, not the Sam who yelled at her for making small mistakes.

But instead of missing Sam, she let Ted lead her to the jackets again. Then she let Ted lead her to his apartment. Then he let Ted lead her to his bed. She let him fuck her too. She knew she shouldn’t, but she wanted to. She wanted to feel wanted and she wanted to feel wanted by Ted, the charming stranger.

He fell asleep after and she stuck around in his arms for a while. It was nice being held. But the clock was nearing midnight, so she should go home and she should shower and she should not smell like alcohol or sex when Sam came home. She left in a hurry, but made sure not to wake him up.

When Sam came home, she was back to being regular Charlotte. The dress was hidden deep within her closet and wouldn’t be taken out again before it was safe to.There was one thing, however, she was missing. She couldn’t find her wallet. She couldn’t find her wedding ring.

She just hoped Sam wouldn’t notice.

*******

Ted had met a lot of girls at parties and he’d taken plenty of girls home from parties as well. But not once had he been as intrigued as when she’d met Nora’s friend.  _ Cinderella _ . What a name.

He had taken her home, because of course he had, and he had enjoyed the sex, but he had enjoyed what lead up to it to. He had enjoyed  _ her _ . And he had been excited to wake up in the morning and hopefully charm her with some homemade breakfast.

When he woke up, however, he found his bed empty. It was sad, but he figured that maybe they just weren’t meant to be. Well. At least until he found her wallet on the floor in his entrance.

Maybe he shouldn’t open it, but he did. In it, he found a wedding ring, a gift card for a pet store and two pictures: One of two cats and one of this Cinderella and a man with long hair. Her husband, he assumed.

She probably wanted it back, he figured. And luckily for her, Ted had been at Nora’s place before. He’d find her apartment, he’d see her again and he’d bring back her wallet with his number on a piece of paper in it. She’d hopefully appreciate that enough to call him at some point.

So he was off. He knocked on every door and talked to everyone who opened. He considered knocking on Nora’s door, but didn’t. He knocked on the door opposite of hers, though. A man opened. A man he recognized. Cinderella’s husband.

“Hey!” Ted started. “Uhh, I think this is your wife’s.”

And he must have recognized the wallet, because he took it. “Where do you have that from?”

He sounded threatening and Ted didn’t want that sort of confrontation, so he made up a lie. “I found it right outside your door, mister. Anyway, I’ll go visit my friend now. Have a good day.” Then Ted walked over to knock on Nora’s door.

She didn’t open for a while, but the man closed the door. Then he heard yelling coming from the other side of it. It did not sound good. It sounded angry and he wished it was his business, because he really wanted to do…  _ something _ .

Nora didn’t open and that was fine. He went and read on Cinderella’s door.  _ Charlotte _ . God, he wished he’d see her again. Hopefully, he would.

And sometimes wishes came true, because sure enough. That evening his phone buzzed and it was a text from her. She said thank you for yesterday, thank you for the wallet and asked if he wanted to meet up again.

Now, Ted didn’t believe in happily ever after, but he did believe in happily for some time. And considering how happy just one evening with her had been, maybe that was what the rest of his time with Charlotte would be too.


End file.
